Legacy Society members achieve their highest philanthropic aspirations through a minimum commitment of a gift of $10,000 through their will, trust, or estate plan. Some other popular options include naming FSW Foundation a beneficiary on a life insurance policy, a retirement account (e.g. 401K) or brokerage account. While Legacy gifts may be given a designation just like any other gift, most donors choose to make theirs unrestricted, providing FSW maximum flexibility to fulfill our mission.
Purpose and Need
You and your family or business have long term plans and so does FSW. We can work together to achieve your highest aspirations, secure your financial, retirement and estate plans while ensuring that FSW students have the best opportunities for an exceptional educational experience years from now.
Recognition Tree
We always honor requests for discretion on any kind of gift; however, we always also welcome the opportunity to recognize donors on our Legacy Recognition Tree on the first floor of Rush Library, FSW Lee Campus.
Trusts and Life Income Gifts
There are many options for making charitable gifts and creating lifetime income at the same time, such as with a Charitable Remainder Unitrust. These gift types can also create opportunities to defer or eliminate gains tax. Review your goals with an FSW Foundation Gift Officer to determine the suitability of one of these options.
Name FSW in Your Will
This is by far and away the most popular and easiest route to make a Legacy commitment to FSW Foundation. FSW Foundation’s Tax ID # is 59-6173638. Please notify our office of your plans/goals so we can ensure your dreams become a reality.
IRA, Qualified Retirement Plan (e.g. 401K), Life Insurance and Stock Gifts
Name FSW as beneficiary of any account or qualified plan (FSW Foundation’s Tax ID # is 59-6173638). Your funds will transfer directly to FSW Foundation at the point of your passing, avoiding the probate process. You can also transfer assets to FSW while you are living—please contact FSW Foundation to arrange this simple, efficient transfer of assets. If you have a Traditional IRA or other tax deferred retirement account and want to transfer assets while you are living and you are 70.5 or older, you should take advantage of the Qualified Charitable Distribution.
Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)
A direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to FSW Foundation (Tax ID # 59-6173638). QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met (see below). In addition to the benefits of giving to FSW, a QCD excludes the amount donated from taxable income. This will lower your adjusted gross income (AGI), which has numerous implications for planning your retirement income.
Also, very importantly QCDs do not require that you itemize, which due to the recent tax law changes, means you may decide to take advantage of the higher standard deduction, but still use a QCD for charitable giving to FSW.
While many IRAs are eligible for QCDs—Traditional, Rollover, Inherited, SEP (inactive plans only), and SIMPLE (inactive plans only) —there are requirements:
- You must be 70½ or older to be eligible to make a QCD. Due to the SECURE Act, deductible IRA contributions made for the year you reach age 70½ and later years can reduce your annual QCD allowance. Age 72 is now the start date for required minimum distributions from IRAs and retirement plans. Please consult your tax and financial advisor prior to making a QCD.
- QCDs are limited to the amount that would otherwise be taxed as ordinary income. This excludes non-deductible contributions.
- The maximum annual amount that can qualify for a QCD is $100,000 per taxpayer. This applies to the sum of QCDs made to one or more charities in a calendar year. If, however, you file taxes jointly, your spouse can also make a QCD from his or her own IRA within the same tax year for up to $100,000.
- For a QCD to count towards your current year’s RMD, the funds must come out of your IRA by your RMD deadline, generally December 31.
- The QCD must be a direct transfer to FSW Foundation from your investment broker. If you cash out your investments and write a personal check, this will not qualify as a QCD.
With the distribution counting towards satisfying your required minimum distribution for the year and the distribution being excluded from taxable income, anyone looking to lower their AGI will benefit.
Lower AGI results in: managing your tax bracket/rate, avoid taxation of Social Security benefits, and lower Medicare Part B and D premiums. Additionally, if you are looking to convert Traditional IRA assets to a Roth IRA, you should consider doing this in a year when you make a QCD and find yourself in a lower tax bracket.
An Illustration from The Wall Street Journal is helpful in showing federal tax savings alone. The donor should also consider potential savings on Social Security taxes and Medicare Part B and D premiums that come with a lower tax bracket:
*As with any gift, FSW Foundation recommends consultation with your tax and financial advisors. Please contact FSW Foundation with any questions.